The effect of foot massage on pain and comfort after cezarean section

Aim: To determine the effect of foot massage on pain and comfort level after cesarean section. Materials and Methods: The research is a two-group randomized controlled study. It was carried out between April 2022 and February 2023 at a mother-friendly district state hospital. The sample group consisted of 84 women who met the inclusion criteria and were divided into two groups (intervention = 42 and control = 42) by simple randomization method. A total of 40 minutes of foot massage was applied to the intervention group (n=42) at the 10th and 20th hours after cesarean section. No intervention other than standard care was applied to the control group (n = 42). The measurements were carried out in the same time periods for the intervention and control groups. In collecting data, Individual Introduction Form, Postoperative Pain Diagnosis Form, İntervention Group Monitoring Form, Control Group Monitoring Form, Postpartum Comfort Scale and Numerical Pain Evaluation Scale were used. When starting the research, ethical approval, institutional permission and written consent from the volunteers were obtained. In evaluating the data, Shapiro Wilks test, Box Plot graphics, Student t-test, Mann Whitney-U test, ANOVA, Repeated Measures test, Bonferroni test, Paired Sample test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, Chi-square test, Fisher Exact Test and Fisher Freeman Halton test was used. The results were evaluated at the 95% confidence interval and the significance level was p<0.05. Results: While the pre-massage pain diagnosis status did not show a statistically significant difference between the groups in the first evaluation (p>0.05), it was determined that the pain intensity and the rate of aching and aching pain after the massage application were statistically significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group. According to the Numerical Pain Rating Scale, the pain scores of the intervention group were determined to be higher than the control group before the first and second massage, and the pain scores of the intervention group were determined to be lower after the massage (p=0.001; p<0.01). While there was no significant difference in comfort scores before the massage (p>0.05), a significant increase was found in the comfort scores after the massage (p=0.001; p<0.01). It was determined that there were statistically significant increases in the comfort score in the intervention group in each measurement compared to the previous measurement (p=0.001; p<0.01). Conclusion: Study findings showed that foot massage applied after cesarean section reduces pain and increases postpartum comfort. Foot massage after cesarean section can be recommended as a non-pharmacological method.